Born in Toronto, Ontario, Sandy McCarthy played Junior C with Midland and Tier II Junior A in Hawkesbury before joining the QMJHL's Laval Titan in 1989-90. The Calgary Flames took him 52nd overall in 1991 NHL Entry Draft after hitting the 20-goal mark for Laval. McCarthy was returned for one more year of junior where he was a dominant power forward with 39 goals and 326 penalty minutes.

During the 1992-93 season, the young forward apprenticed with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL. The next year he began nearly five years as Calgary's chief enforcer. In addition to dropping his gloves, McCarthy was an effective forechecker and a solid defensive player.

Prior to the March trade deadline in 1998, the rugged forward was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Late the next year, he joined the Philadelphia Flyers to add muscle as they prepared for the post-season. McCarthy later toiled briefly for the Carolina Hurricanes then joined the New York Rangers in August 2000. During the Rangers' disappointing season, the veteran winger was a bright spot with a career high eleven goals and solid work on defence.

Coming off a career high in goals in 2000-01, McCarthy established a career high in points during the 2001-02 season with 23 and played his 600th NHL game in 2002-03. After three seasons with the Rangers, McCarthy signed as a free agent with the Boston Bruins in the summer of 2003 and went on to play a mere 37 games with the club before being reclaimed by the Rangers at the trade deadline.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1987-88

Midland Centennials

ON-Jr.C

18

2

1

3

70

1988-89

Hawkesbury Hawks

ON-Jr.A

42

4

11

15

139

1989-90

Laval Titan

QMJHL

65

10

11

21

269

14

3

3

6

50

1989-90

Laval Titan

M-Cup

4

0

0

0

2

1990-91

Laval Titan

QMJHL

68

21

19

40

297

13

6

5

11

67

1991-92

Laval Titan

QMJHL

62

39

51

90

326

8

4

5

9

81

1992-93

Salt Lake Golden Eagles

IHL

77

18

20

38

220

1993-94

Calgary Flames

NHL

79

5

5

10

173

-3

7

0

0

0

34

1994-95

Calgary Flames

NHL

37

5

3

8

101

+1

6

0

1

1

17

1995-96

Calgary Flames

NHL

75

9

7

16

173

-8

4

0

0

0

10

1996-97

Calgary Flames

NHL

33

3

5

8

113

-8

1997-98

Calgary Flames

NHL

52

8

5

13

170

-18

1997-98

Tampa Bay Lightning

NHL

14

0

5

5

71

-1

1998-99

Tampa Bay Lightning

NHL

67

5

7

12

135

-22

1998-99

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

13

0

1

1

25

-2

6

0

1

1

0

1999-00

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

58

6

5

11

111

-5

1999-00

Carolina Hurricanes

NHL

13

0

0

0

9

+2

2000-01

New York Rangers

NHL

81

11

10

21

171

+3

2001-02

New York Rangers

NHL

82

10

13

23

171

-8

2002-03

New York Rangers

NHL

82

6

9

15

81

-4

2003-04

Boston Bruins

NHL

37

3

1

4

28

0

2003-04

New York Rangers

NHL

13

1

0

1

2

-8

NHL Totals

736

72

76

148

1534

23

0

2

2

61

Traded to Tampa Bay by Calgary with Calgary's 3rd (Brad Richards) and 5th (Curtis Rich) round picks in 1998 NHL Draft for Jason Wiemer, March 24, 1998. Traded to Philadelphia by Tampa Bay with Mikael Andersson for Colin Forbes and Philadelphia's 4th round pick (Michal Lanicek) in 1999 NHL Draft, March 20, 1999. Traded to Carolina by Philadelphia for Kent Manderville, March 14, 2000. Traded to NY Rangers by Carolina with Carolina's' 4th round pick (Bryce Lampman) in 2001 NHL Draft for Darren Langdon and Rob DiMaio, August 4, 2000. Signed as a free agent by Boston, August 12, 2003. Claimed on waivers by NY Rangers from Boston, March 9, 2004.